Screw off packer



' L. A.'LAYNE ET Al.

June 21, 1938.

SCREW OFF PACKER Filed May 6, 1955 INVENTOR.

@om CMTTORNEYS.

LESLIE A. LAYNE ALBERT l.. Roco i L un., L.. E

BY HA RoLD G. BLOCK,

Patented June 21, 1938 SCREW OFF PACKER Leslie A. Layne, Albert L. Roco, and nemico., BlcnckJlouston,l Tex.; said Roco and Block assignors to said Layne Application May 6, 1935, serial No. 19,960 v zo claims. (ci. 16e-1o)l a packer assembly which is particularlyadapted for very deep Wells wherein a part of the weight of the .string of pipe above the packer maybe used to set the packer and the assembly will thereafter support the balance of the weight of the string of pipe so that there will be no tendency to destroy the packer by the application of excessive weight.

Another object is to provide a packer which will be securely sealed against leakage from inside of the string of pipe in which the packer is incorporated; I l

Another object of 'the invention is to provide a seal oi packer in which the weight of lthe string of pipe above the packer serves to maintain the packer in expanded position and to also maintain a seal against leakage under the packer. Another object of the invention is to provide a two-part packer of the screw oif type wherein a stop portion for a screw off packer so that the load of the pipe above the packer will not be supported on the packer.

Still another object of the invention is to pro--4 vide a screw oif packer having a setting sleeve which will telescope under a portion of the packer after it has been partially set to obtain additional expansion of that part of the packer.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a setting sleeve which telescopes beneath the packervfabric so that any leakage under the packer will be compelled to travel twice the length of the setting sleeve.

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein: Y

Fig. 1 is a central vertical sectional view of the packer incorporated in a-string of pipe in position to be lowered into the well.

Fig. 2- is a central vertical view showing the f packer in expanded or sealing position.

LThe drawing illustrates a string of pipe 2, which may be of any desired size or length, which is y tween the threads I1 and 26.

being lowered into a well bore. This string of pipe will be made up of pipe sections connected ogether by couplings 3, and may extend above and below the packer which is illustrated gener- Vally at 4. The lower section of pipe 5 servesas a support for the packer and the lower end of this pipe may have a screen, liner, or casing on the lower end vthereof so long as this pipe 5 is rigidly supported to form a foundation for the packer.

The pipe 5 has connected thereto the stop collar `l, which has the support pipe 1 threaded thereto. The top of the collar 6 provides a shoulder 8 on which the wrappings of vmaterial forming the packing 9 are arranged. Suitable wires will be wound about the packing at Il to retain the lower end thereof in xed position. This packing 3 is arrangedby winding it about the y.pipe 1 to form what will be termed the bottom or lower packing member I3. The upper end of this packing material isi also confined by wires Il. This packing member I3 may be ofany desired length in order to obtain the necessary expansion when it is Vcollapsed longitudinally.`

The support pipe 1 continuesV above the lower packing 'member I3 and has xed thereto the bushing I6 whose outer surface carries a coarse thread I1. The upper end of this bushing I'B provides a seat I8 for a ring of sealing material I3,

which is surmounted by a compression ring A2li. vA stop ring 2| is threaded on the pipe 1 in order to retain the sealing material and compression ring in position. A setting sleeve 25 has its inner.

surface provided with a coarse thread 26 which cooperates with the coarse thread i1 toA provide the screw off connection for the packer. The setting sleeve 25 is undercut vto form a shoulder 21, which serves as an abutment for the upper end 28 of the top packing portion 30 of the packer.

"I'his upper portion will be confined by wires Il,

which is, as illustrated,'very thin. 'I'he bottom of the top packing portion 3D of the packer is also confined by wires Il directly adjacent the lower end 34 of the setting. sleeve. It will be .noted that a space 33 is provided between the lower end 39 of the top packing portion 30 and the upper end 40 of the bottom packing element I3. This space 38 will be of substantially the same length as the threaded screw off connection be- The upper end of -the setting sleev 2% is threaded to the swaged nipple 42 which has-an inwardly directed shoulder 43 which is positioned some distance above the upper end 44 of the' support pipe 1.

- With the parts assembled in the position shown When the packer is to be set it is only necessary to rotate the string of pipe 2 in a righthand direction so that the threads 26 rotate upon the threads I1 and the setting sleeve moves downwardly relative to the support pipe 1. This support pipe 1 is, of course, held stationary 'by` the engagement ci the pipe 5 on the bottom of' thenele.

As the setting sleeve 25 rotates, the upper packing portion 3II will, of course. rotate therewith. It will be noted that the sleeve-25 is undercut at 45 so that there will be no excessive frictional resistance to rotation. During this rotation of the setting sleeve the lower packing portion I3 will remain stationary because it is iixed on the support pipe 1. As thesetting sleeve and packing portion 30 move downwardly the lower end 39 of the upper packing portion will come into engagement with the upper end III of the lower packing member I3. When this occurs, the expansion of both packings will begin. At approximately the same time the threads, 26 will be entirely screwed off of the threads 1 so that the setting sleeve will be released from the bushing I6 and the upper section of the string of pipe 2 will be free to move downwardly i n order to expand the packings I3 and 30. As the setting sleeve moves downwardly the two packings are confined between the shoulder 8 on the stop collar 6 and the shoulder 21 on the setting sleeve until they are expanded into the position shown in Fig. 2. The lower packing member I3 begins its expansion as the thin edge 34 of the setting sleeve begins to telescope thereunder. In this manner the packing member I3'begins its/ expansion and thereafter is wedged further outwardly because of the increasing thickness of the setting sleeve 25 as it telescopes beneath the upper end thereof. Because of this arrangement a double expansion of the packer is obtained and a perfect seal is thereby insured. The upper packing portion 30, of course, telescopes upwardly on the setting sleeve, as shown in Fig. 2, so that it is also expanded outwardly because of the increasing thickness of the setting'sleeve. l

The wedging action of the Atapered sleeve serves not only to expand the packings from the inside while they are being collapsedlongitudinally, but also serves to wedge the inside of the packing material firmly in position so that there can be no leakage underneath the packing. Before any uid may leak under the packing it is necessary that it traverse at least twice the length of the setting sleeve 25 because it must ilow' downwardly inside of the sleeve and-then upwardly outside of the sleeve or vice versa. It seems obvious that the abutment of the ends 39 and 40 together will prevent any leakage between the upper and lower packings.

'I'he 'packing` or seal ring I9 is of particular advantage because when the parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 2, considerable pressure may be applied to the inside of the string of pipe 2 in order to wash down any cavings in the vwell or to maintain a circulation-while the string of pipe 2 is being run into the well. This seal I9 prevents any leakage through the screw of joint f' 2,120,981 ,in Fig. 1, the device win be iewered'inte'the nele andisofadvantagebecauseofthecousemtureoithethreadsl1and2,whicharenot' adapted to maintain a seal.

With the very long strings of Dipewhich are now being set in the wells the entire 'nicht of the string of pipe can not be advan lowered onto the packerand maintained thereby without danger of cutting or shearing ci! the packer completely. With the presmt arrangement a construction has been provided whereby if the packer is completely set no more weight can be applied thereto. This'advantase is effeeted beeeuse'er the shoulder u which is adepted to ilrst engage the outer corner il or! thecompression ring 2l as it moves downwardly to complete the expansion of the packer. The shoulder 43 as it engages the compresion ring v .20 causes this ring to move downwardly a short thereby provided for the weight of the pipe after Y the packer has been collapsed and this weight can not be applied to the packer but is transferred downwardly to the support pipe 1 and there is, of course, no" tendency to shear ci! or cut oif the packer.v l

It seems obvious that a seal is obtained inside oi the packer so that there can be no leakage of fluid in either direction. The seal I9 is assisted in the sealing operation of course because of the length of the setting sleeve 25 and the fact that it has been wedged underneath the packing material of both the upper and low- The threads I1 and 26 prevent collapse Aoi! the packer while it is being lowered into the well bore and the fact that the upper and lower packings are positioned on the setting sleeve and the support pipe respectively prevent any twisting or distortion of the layers of fabric making up thepackin while the screwing oif operation is being carrie on.

While one form of the invention has been shown and described it seems obvious that the length and size of thewpackings and sleeves may be varied as desired.

What is claimed is: 1. A vpacker including a support pipe, a stop collar thereon, a setting sleeve telescoped over said pipe, said sleeve being tapered downwardly to a. thin edge, a threaded connection between said pipe and sleeve, a seal adjacent said connection to prevent leakage under said sleeve, and a packer disposed on said pipe above said collar and on said sleeve whereby said sleeve will telescope under said packer during the operation.

2. A well packer comprising :a setting sleeve, a packing member thereon, a support lille telescopically related to said setting pipe, a packing member thereon, a setting pipe vto said sleeve, a releasable connection between said supportv pipe and said setting sleeve so that said sleeve may move on said pipe to abut said packings, and a tapered end on said sleeve to telescope under the contact faces oi.' the packings upon setting.

3. A well packer comprising a setting sleeve, 7l

port pipe and said -setting sleeve so that said sleeve may move on said pipe to abut saidv packers, and means on said sleeve to telescope under said support pipe packer.

4. A packer including a support portion, a setting portion telescopically related to said support portion, and a wrapped fabric packing on each of said portions to abut together to be collapsed upon relative movement of said portions.

5. A string of pipe to be set in a well, a packer incorporated in said string, a pair of relatively movable pieces of pipe in said string, a screw off connection between said pieces, a fabric packing of layers on each piece of pipe to abut against each other when said pieces are telescoped after said connection is screwed oii.

6. A packer tg be incorporated in a long string of pipe comprisiigasupport portion, a setting portion telescopicallyrelated to said support portion, a separate packing on each portion, both of which areto be collapsed by movement of said portions, a releasable connection between said portions, and co-engageable shoulders carried by said portions to carry the weight of the string of pipe after the packer has been set.

7. In a packer, a support pipe, a setting pipe telescopically related to said support pipe, a sealing material to be compressed upon setting of the packer to form a seal between said pipes, and interengaging means on said pipes to support the weight of the setting pipe independently of said seal.

8. The combination in a screw oi packer structure of a two-part packing to seal the outside of said structure, a screw-off connection, and a sealing material to seal against leakage through said structure.

9. A telescoping packer comprising a support pipe, asetting pipe, a packing portion' on each of said pipes, and an additional packing arranged between said pipes, and a screw-off connection between said pipes so that on telescoping of the pipes all three packings will be compressed.

10. A packer to be incorporated in a long string of pipe comprising, a support portion, a setting portion telescopically related to said Supporti portion, a threaded screw-off connection for said portions, a packing to be collapsed by movement of said portions, co-engaging shoulders carried by said portions to carry the weight of the string of pipe vafter the packing has been set, and a seal between said portions to be set upon engagement of said shoulders.

`1,1.A packer including a support portion, a setting portion telescopically related to said support portion, said portions being relatively rotatable, and a packing on each of said portions to abut together to be collapsed upon relative longitudinal movement of said portions, but which are capable of relative rotation of said portions before setting without distorting either of said packings, and a screw-off vconnection between said portions releasable to effect setting of said packings.

12. A packer including a two part packing, a support pipe, a settingpipe telescopically related to said support pipe, one part of said packing being fixed to each pipe, a tapered yend fixed on said setting pipe underlying one of said packings and adapted to have the other of said packings telescoped thereon during the setting operation.

13. A packer including a two part packing, a support pipe, a setting pipe telescopically related to said support pipe, a releasable connection between said pipes, one of said parts of packing being on each of said pipes and spaced apart whereby the pipes and packing parts are relatively ro-l tatable without affecting said packing during the releasing of said connection.

14. A packer comprising a setting pipe, a support pipe telescopicallyv related with and releasably connected to said setting pipe, said pipes being relatively rotatable to release said setting pipe from said support pipe for longitudinal movement, a two part packing one part being positioned on each of said pipes and spaced from the other part whereby said packing parts are unaffected by the rotation of said setting pipe.

15. The combination of a setting pipe with a packing thereon, a support pipe telescopically related to said setting pipe and with a packing thereon, a screw-off connection between said pipes normally spacing said packing apart but releasable to allow relative longitudinal movement of said pipes to abut said packing for expansion thereof.

16.\A packer construction wherein the parts are relatively rotatable to set the packing without causing twisting of the packing during rotation comprising a support pipe, a setting pipe, a screwoff connection between said pipes, a packing portion on each pipe which portions are spaced apart during rotation and adapted to be expanded upon longitudinal movement of said pipes.

1'7. A packer including a support pipe, av setting sleeve telescoped over said pipe, means' to connect said sleeve and pipe, a packer between said sleeve and pipe, a seal member inside of said sleve to normally form a seal between the sleeve and pipe before the packer is collapsed, said means being releasable to collapse said' packer, and interengageable parts on said sleeve and pipe to cause said seal member to form a seal when the packer is set.

18. A packer including a support pipe, a setting sleeve telescoped over said pipe, means to connect said sleeve and pipe, a packer between said` sleeve and pipe, a seal member inside lof said sleeve to normally form a seal between the sleeve and pipe befre the packer is collapsed, said said plate and seal ring against said gland, a setting member telescopically related to said support pipe, and a releasable connection between said gland and said member to allow setting of said packer.

. LESLIE. A. LAYNE. ALBERT L. ROCO. HAROLD C. BLOCK. 

